Moffitt, MD Anderson study finds trigger of immunotherapy resistance

Cancer-induced nerve injury, a cause of chronic inflammation, may lead to immunotherapy resistance, according to a study published Aug. 20 in Nature. 

The research was led by teams from Houston-based University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center and Tampa, Fla.-based Moffitt Cancer Center in collaboration with Boston-based Brigham and Women’s Hospital, Ann Arbor-based University of Michigan, Ontario, Canada-based Queen’s University and Stockholm, Sweden-based Karolinska Institute.

Here are three things to know from the study:

1. Nerves respond with an inflammatory response when cancer tumor cells break down the “protective myelin sheaths that cover nerve fibers.” This response can exhaust the immune system as cancer-induced nerve damage continues, according to an Aug. 20 news release from MD Anderson.

   The inflammatory response and subsequent immune system exhaustion “ultimately weakens the effectiveness of anti-PD-1 immunotherapy,” an Aug. 21 news release from Moffitt said.

2. “By targeting the signaling that follows nerve injury, we may be able to restore the immune system’s ability to fight cancer,” Kenneth Tsai, MD, PhD, an author of the study and co-director of Moffitt’s Donald A. Adam Melanoma and Skin Cancer Center of Excellence, said in the health system’s release.
3. Researchers said the study’s findings underscore the importance of cancer neuroscience, which investigates the interactions between cancer and the nervous system.

Read the full study here. 

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